I had the opportunity to ask a couple relocating back to the US after living in Kenya for eight years how the spiders are in Kenya.
I was curious. They talked of a camel spider. The references I found at the International Arachnology Society website say this is especially fast and not venomous, but will seem to chase you. What it is actually doing is trying to stay in the shadows you cast.

Anyway, the people from Kenya called it a camel spider, yet described a camel spider with significant venom that would cause a reaction- a severe reaction would lead to stomach paralysis(?) they said.

I picked four up from Hatari years ago and the females only lived four months (males lived a week) and laid a few hundred eggs each but none of the eggs ever hatched. All I ended up with were a few OK pics (here is one with eggs still in the abdomen). I had heard there was a good book with actual info. on rearing them but have never seen it or any reference and it may just be a rumor. If anyone is selling the book or has it for sale please pass along the info. or send me a bill.

Solifugids don't chase, except in perception of course... and although will bite readily, are not dangerous. They are native to my apartment, it seems, and we find them several times a month... and are turned into a quick meal for my desert hairy scorp.

We haven't had much success keeping them in captivity. We did manage to keep one for a few weeks, but it just stopped eating one day and then quickly died. We aren't going to continue with such experiments.

Take this wityh a grain of salt but I am going to relay a few observations that few of my customers mad about the camel spiders in Iraq. They were stationed there at various times.

3 different customers reported them as achieving lengths of close to 12". Most "experts" claim no more than 5 or 6

one guy said they would chase you down for the shade your shadow provides and that they could outrun you.

this guy also said that when he came home he found an eggsack in his duffle bag and it hatched into 20 babies and he claimed he sold them on ebay for 250.00 each. I did a search for closed items and found no references but it may have been past the period where closed items are no longer accesible.

Like I said, I don't know how much truth there is to any of these comments but I am passing it along.

Take this wityh a grain of salt but I am going to relay a few observations that few of my customers mad about the camel spiders in Iraq. They were stationed there at various times.

3 different customers reported them as achieving lengths of close to 12". Most "experts" claim no more than 5 or 6

one guy said they would chase you down for the shade your shadow provides and that they could outrun you.

this guy also said that when he came home he found an eggsack in his duffle bag and it hatched into 20 babies and he claimed he sold them on ebay for 250.00 each. I did a search for closed items and found no references but it may have been past the period where closed items are no longer accesible.

Like I said, I don't know how much truth there is to any of these comments but I am passing it along.

Steve Schindler

Click to expand...

There is very little truth to most of those comments. Various species of the genus Galeodes (Family Galeodidae) compete for the largest solifugid species known. A very large, female specimen may reach 3 inches in body length and 6 to 7 inches in legspan. These stories of 12-inch solifuges are extreme exaggerations. The theory of solifuges chasing people for their shadow does have some truth, as there have been several accounts of this situation. I have never seen this behavior first-hand as I only collect Solifugae at night. Solifugid eggs need precise conditions for proper development, something a duffle bag definitely could not provide.

Two soldiers i know here,told me the same on the shadow aspect and 12" size could it be possible its a unknown variety?Maybe a species not known of driven from its habitat because of the war ?But all sources say its fake none hit 12". I did a search and found nothing indicating they get to this size,the range i found was from 1 inch to 6 inches as max*.

But after searching i wouldnt mind getting some of the Rhagodidae species.I've seen these around in the desert and never really had a interest in them,but after reading and researching a bit on them,they are very interesting creatures. This site was pretty informitive,a work in progress but still a lot of photos,species info,distribution,taxonomic overviews,keys to the families and subfamilies etc. http://www.solpugid.com/index.htm

((In an article in the July issue of National Geographic magazine, writer and photographer Mark W. Moffett tracks "wind scorpions" in the Middle East and closer to home. While in Baja California, Mexico, Moffett and arachnologist Warren Savary spotted a new species in a research station's collection.

"Just as we were about to leave … I spotted one jar that had something I thought I hadn't seen before," said Savary, a research associate at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. "I pulled it out and said, 'Oh my God!'"

The new species has a horn on the top of its mouthparts, something that no other species in North America has. "It was pretty easy to see that it was new," Savary said. The arachnologist plans to name the species after Actaeon, a mythical Greek hunter who was transformed into a stag. ))

Undoubtedly, the soldiers did see very large solifuges, but people tend to greatly exaggerate when they see such an “unusual” animal for the first time, especially for someone that has never encountered one of the smaller species of Solifugae. For someone who has never seen a solifugid and then suddenly sees a female Galeodes with a 6-inch leg-span, the memory of the arachnid’s size may be very exaggerated. Although, when dealing with any branch of science, you should never say something is impossible. Yes, it is possible there could be an un-described solifugid species with a 12-inch leg-span, and as awesome as that would be; I still say it is very unlikely.

The Solifugae are definitely interesting creatures. Personally, they are my favorite arachnids. Although short-lived, a single specimen can be very interesting to observe in captivity. They are voracious predators. Rhagodidae is an incredible family that contains very unique species, especially in the area of morphology.

I believe Warren Savary is one of the leading authorities on the order. The website is awesome. It’s a great reference. What is more awesome, though, is that he has discovered a new, and very unique, solifugid species!

I agree with Alex S. People had never seen a Chicken Spider up until just recently, and no one believed that a spider that large would live communally. There are so many undiscovered species of spiders and scorpions, who knows maybe there is an unclassified species of Solfigae that could possibly even exceed the ones seen in Iraq.

Also has anyone thought about the fact that these creatures can run extremely fast and great distances, being a factor to why they don't do well in captivity. Maybe they need a lot of space to run? If you caged up a cheetah in a five foot cage, how long do you think it would survive?

i would LOVE to have a solifugid, they look awesome, i can't imagine them having much fear either, hehe.
I just wouldn't until more research was done into the care, and upbringing of them. I don't wanna get any purely because its only gonna die unnaturally from what iv heard/read.
Maybe in the future!

It's certainly from the family Galeodidae, and i would say its Galeodes granti (since its the main specimen bought and available in the pet market and it has typically black banded pedipalps, and all around it looks pretty much like it). Its just a general guess though.
Dont overfeed it. The more he eats, the less he lives (due to its high metabolic rate). I'd say once or twice a week.
Molting varies from species to species so i dont really now the frequency. Fact is solifuges are pretty hard to keep in captivity as in most cases they die soon, so information lacks. Maybe someone here who has kept this species long enough can tell you the average frequency of its molting.
There's lots of discussion regarding how to best keep solifuges. I'd advise you to go and read the other solifuge sticky ("solifuges actually live longer than we think). You'll find some info and feedback there from various people.

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